SUNDAY JUNE 14, 1pm – Crime Fiction Club Brunch
at BRIDGET FOY’S 200 South Street
215-922-1813. Brunch is a la carte
KEITH GILMAN
author of FATHER’S DAY ($24.95 St. Martin’s)

Father’s Day is Keith Gilman’s provocative debut from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books. It was awarded Best First Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Father’s Day is a dark and atmospheric tale of an ex-cop from Philadelphia asked to track down the missing daughter of an old friend. The investigation takes him deep into his past, into the darkest corners of the city where the ghosts of his most painful memories await his return.

He uncovers truths about the alleged suicide of his friend, a fellow officer with the Philadelphia police department; truths about the accusations that ended both their careers; truths about the woman who had come between them; truths about the tortured life of the girl he’s trying to find and naturally, truths about himself.

Father’s Day is a novel with multiple layers of meaning, taught psychological depth, strong noir elements and stark visual imagery. It is a terrifying exploration of the emotions behind our deepest fears.

“Gilman has a cop’s eye for detail and a hardboiled humor that can’t be faked. A palpable evil fills the pages of FATHER’S DAY that is both terrifying and relentless. Gilman writes sharply and knows where all the bodies are buried; his Philadelphia is worth a visit.”
-William Lashner – NY Times Best Selling Author of A KILLER’S KISS.

Keith Gilman is a cop who writes crime fiction. He’s been a police officer in the Philadelphia area for over fifteen years and his writing reflects that experience.

His first novel, Father’s Day, won the St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel Contest. His short stories have appeared in a variety of crime fiction magazines, both on the web and in print. Keith’s novels and stories are quite dark and contain stark imagery, strong noir elements, psychological depth and multiple layers of meaning.

Father’s Day is due out in the Spring of 2009 from St. Martin’s Minotaur.

Contact Keith at keith @ keithgilman.com

and
DENNIS TAFOYA
Author of DOPE THIEF ($24.95 St. Martin’s)

“Dope Thief is first-rate literary noir, the hardest core crime novel I’ve read this year. It manages to be funny without ever descending into the trivial, and at its core it’s harrowing. An amazingly assured debut by Dennis Tafoya, a writer I know I’ll be following for years to come.” – Scott Phillips, author of Cottonwood

“Dope Thief is one of those first novels that scream for us to pay attention to an important new voice in crime fiction. Dennis Tafoya writes a fast, quirky, and thoroughly twisted tale of corruption, heroism, and redemption that will leave its mark on you.” – Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Patient Zero

Ray and his best friend Manny… Close ever since they met in juvie almost twenty years ago, have a great scam going: with a couple of fake badges and some DEA windbreakers they found at a secondhand store, They pose as federal agents and rip off small-time drug dealers, taking their money and drugs and disappearing before anyone is the wiser. It’s the perfect sting: the dealers they target are too small to look for revenge and too guilty to call the police, nobody has to die, nobody innocent gets hurt, and Ray and Manny score plenty. But it can’t last forever. eventually, they choose the wrong mark and walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a heavy hitter, who is more than willing to kill to get his money back, is coming after them. Now Ray couldn’t care less about the score. he wants out — out of the scam, out of a life he feels like he never chose. Whether the victim of his latest job — not to mention his partner — will let him is another question entirely. Dennis Tafoya brings a rich , passionate, and accomplished new voice to the explosive story of a small-time crook with everything to lose in Dope Thief, his outstanding hardboiled debut.

Dennis Tafoya was born in Philadelphia and attended Oberlin College. He dropped out and worked a series of jobs, including housepainter, hospital orderly and EMT before starting a career in industrial sales. He began writing poetry, publishing stories in journals, and then started work on Dope Thief, his first novel, which will be published by St. Martin’s in May 2009. His second novel will also be published by St. Martin’s. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, and the Liars Club, a Philadelphia-area writers group. He lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he is currently at work on his third novel, Black Horse Pike.

Your host is Deen Kogan, director of the Society Hill Playhouse, co-producer of Noircon and long time member of the standing committee of Bouchercon: The World Mystery Convention, who will introduce the featured writers. Brunch will be served at 1pm and the author presentations will begin at 2pm, followed by a discussion and a question and answer period. The program is organized by Robin’s Books, Philadelphia’s oldest independent book store at 110A S.13th Street.